However, I disagree that there is fundamental value in built-in TV software supplanting third-party devices. That is, unless a software company is making the software.
I have a Roku, and built-in software from Sony on a blu-ray player (on separate TVs). The Roku is so much better that it's painful to use the TV without it:
- The buffering is much worse on the Sony. When it switches between ads and the video it takes several seconds to rebuffer.
- The delay between menus is measured in seconds, while the Roku is almost instantaneous
- It's almost like Sony didn't even have one UX designer working on their project. It will do idiotic things like when Hulu opens, create a modal dialog that says "The internet content is ready" and I must click OK to proceed.
- The remote and other menus are slow and hard to decipher just like you'd expect from built-in software.
The point is that building the user experience of a video client is not trivial. I can't even blame Sony, really -- a non-software company will never do a good job at that kind of thing.
The Roku is a world of difference and until a company like that is building the built-in software, the mainstream of the market will be in third-party devices.